Abstract
High rates of childhood obesity and the impact this has on children's health make it important to establish a healthy lifestyle during the early school years. This pilot study explored the impact of a newly developed healthy habits curriculum. The Sprouts: Growing Healthy Habits curriculum presents topics such as energy balance, healthy sleep habits, and food groups through short activities and interactive book-reading. A nonrandomized controlled experimental study design was used to assess impact. Fifty-seven children between 5 and 6 years of age participated from two elementary schools (36 from the intervention school, 21 from the control school). Knowledge was assessed pre- and post-intervention in five content areas (farm to table, bedtime routines, portion size, energy expenditure, sugar content of beverages) using card sorting, ranking, and sequence activities. Within- and between-school comparisons were conducted using differences between groups and mixed modeling approaches. Within the intervention school, significant increases in knowledge were observed for farm to table, sugar content of beverages, and bedtime routines. For the control school, there was a significant increase in knowledge of portion sizes. Considering between-schools, only change in knowledge of bedtime routines remained significant, with greater increases in the intervention school. Results seem promising given the short dosage of curriculum. Increases in knowledge of healthy habits in early childhood may help in promoting healthy behaviors and combatting the effects of obesity.
Highlights
Childhood obesity continues to be a major issue in the United States especially during early childhood with approximately 18.4% of 2–5 year olds and 20.6% of 6–11 year olds meeting criteria to be considered obese [1]
Bedtime Routine Knowledge To assess knowledge of bedtime routines, children were provided with 17 cards, given one at a time
Given that no measures appropriate to capture change in child knowledge in the healthy habit domains covered by the Sprouts curriculum were available at the time of measurement, this study provides a first step toward creating measurement tools for use in early childhood settings to evaluate changes in children’s knowledge of healthy habits
Summary
Childhood obesity continues to be a major issue in the United States especially during early childhood with approximately 18.4% of 2–5 year olds and 20.6% of 6–11 year olds meeting criteria to be considered obese [1]. Ninety-five percent of the nation’s children are of school age, with 4.2 million children in kindergarten classrooms, suggesting schools are a prime setting to assist in addressing today’s obesity issue among children early on [2]. During the early childhood years children learn about food, establish health behaviors, and develop food preferences that can track into adulthood [3, 4], making this an ideal time period for obesity prevention efforts. Children who are overweight in childhood are at a significantly higher risk of being overweight or becoming obese in adulthood [5]. Sprouts Growing Healthy Habits Curriculum help children learn about nutrition and establish healthy habits early on to impact their dietary and behavior trajectories later in life. Three primary factors related to childhood obesity are dietary patterns, involvement in food preparation, and behavioral patterns including energy balance and sleep routines, which will be discussed in further detail
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